The Science Of Aliens (Paperback)

~ Clifford Pickover (Author) "You are walking through the Nevada desert with Captain Steven Hiller, the hero of the science fiction movie Independence Day..." (more)
Key Phrases: technological aliens, alien message, message from the stars, Star Trek, Diffuse Ones, Alpha Centauri (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Scientist and author Clifford Pickover poses the question, "Can creatures dream of things beyond their sensory capacity?" Clearly Pickover thinks humans can--to some extent, at least. To this end, he wrote The Science of Aliens, an intriguing book featuring chapters such as "What Aliens Look Like," "Origin of Alien Life," and "Alien Abduction." And, of course, "Alien Sex." (Don't say you weren't curious.) To stimulate the reader's imagination, Pickover focuses on the characteristics of the earth's creatures--their appearance, their senses, their environments, their sexual behaviors--and argues that this diversity pales in comparison to the far wider possibilities in alien worlds.

Whether or not you believe in life on other planets, the artist's renditions of creatures such as Cheelas, Mesklinites, and Radiates from SF novels, as well as mathematical "alien messages" to decipher, are a real treat. (Here's an easy one: "Aliens are waiting for humanity to replace the question mark with the next value in the sequence before they will consider us worthy for further communication: 77, 49, 36, 18, ?") He also raises interesting issues; for example, what form would art take for creatures sensitive to smells or heat rather than light? To top it off, Pickover includes examples of potential interplanetary humor taboos: "Don't make puns around Scolexes because it outrages their sense of linguistic symmetry, which they've fought holy wars over." SF fans will enjoy this entertaining and thought-provoking book. --C.B. Delaney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Out-of-this-world speculation on extraterrestrial life that will fascinate fans of Star Trek, The X-Files, and sci-fi of all kinds.

"Run, leap, scurry and scoot to your nearest bookstore and get [Pickover's] books." -Byte

"Bucky Fuller thought big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both." -WIRED

"Pickover inspires a new generation of Da Vincis to build unknown flying machines and create new Mona Lisas." -Christian Science Monitor

If extraterrestrials ever landed on earth, they would find us extremely strange. Their first intimation of our existence might well be a presidential speech or the Olympic Games, a mud-wrestling match or Third Rock from the Sun.

What would aliens look like? An intelligent octopus-like creature is certainly plausible. What about odd numbers of limbs-a three-legged alien with three arms and three eyes? Could creatures live at extremely high pressures and temperatures? Would they have any interest in abducting us? Would they want to have sex with us?

In classic Pickover style, here is scientifically based speculation at the far edge of knowledge-and beyond.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (June 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465073158
• ISBN-13: 978-0465073153
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,402 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kla-too Barada Nik-toe, June 9, 2001

By	"starandysmom" (Santa Clara, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This book finds polymath Clifford Pickover at nearly the top of his game. This is a wide-ranging exploration of alien-related topics from science and popular culture. The book is organized into 9 chapters, each dealing with a different aspect of "alien-ness".

Liberal use of material from science fiction literature (including Pickover's own SF books) provide a good contrast to the hard science also on display here. Very nicely done black and white illustrations from many sources are a plus.

The chapter on 'Appearance' goes beyond the obvious 'they won't look like us'. Pickover meditates on the many exotic shapes of life on our own planet, and discusses symmetry, brain location, and appendages. In 'Senses', he speculates on how aliens might 'smell' and 'see' their own environment. He makes the interesting proposition that the first aliens that we meet will likely be 'immortals'.

Like much of good science fiction, he describes in some detail the extreme 'Environments' in which aliens might live, using earth geology as a starting point. He discusses life as we know it in very hot, cold, airless, acidic, alkaline, salty, high pressure, and dry conditions. He then proceeds to speculate on environments as inhospitable (relatively) as a high gravity Brown Dwarf, and the vacuum of space.

In 'Origins' he discusses earth-based molecular biology as well as the theory of panspermia. He also considers the likelihood that meteorites and comets have been important mechanisms for dispersing some of the keys elements for life. He concludes this discussion closer to home with some speculation on the kinds of life we will find on Io, Ganymede, Europa, and Mars (when we get there).

He posits that our initial 'Communication' will likely be mathematical in form; although, he does allow for the possibility of finding some kind of genetic message first. He is a strong advocate of the work done by SETI. The book generously includes a description of how to build an amateur SETI system.

In the section on 'Travel' I found a wondrously simple explanation of TACHYONS (I've wondered about them since my first Star Trek episode in 1966). Pickover surveys the physics of high speed travel, distance and death.

He wraps the book with a skeptical discussion of (what else?) 'Alien Abduction'. He branches off here into one of his favorite topics, temporal lobe epilepsy.

Numerous references to popular culture (television & movies) will date the material eventually. Chapter notes are as interesting as the main text; very good bibliography and table of contents.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Generates a sense of wonder, January 20, 1999

By	[e-mail] "johnder" (Cornwall, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Science Of Aliens (Hardcover)

Dr Clifford Pickover's book "Science of Aliens" evokes a sense of wonder often absent in much so called science *fiction* these days, especially the political wranglings of humans dressed in funny rubber make up kits in Star Trek, X Files or Babylon 5.

He discusses issues such as whether aliens will offer humanity immortality as means of subduing our warlike nature. Even more mind stretching is the possibility that when all matter is exhausted in the universe after 10^100 years, there will still exist a "diffuse sea of electrons". He evokes questions such as: Could these be arranged into structures to contain the intelligence of immortals left over from the age of matter? Could these structures simulate universes of matter that appear to their inhabitants to be like the universe we currently inhabit? On the basis that most of the lifespan of the universe will be spent in this state, it is in fact more probable that we inhabit such a simulation than the real thing!

Dr Pickover speculates further about way life could survive in this post-matter age of the universe in "Science of Aliens".

Science of Aliens is an easy fun to read type of book. It may not be the first book to touch on each topic within it, but it does collect them together in a format and with a title to attract new readers into thinking about.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For those who like both science and aliens :), February 26, 2002

By	Avi Dardik (Kfar-Saba Israel) - See all my reviews

This book is all about the science of aliens. Which means, how would they look like, how would they act, how will they reproduce, how will they communicate with us and so on.
I enjoyed the book mainly because I learned a lot of stuff. I learned about the tons of weird creatures we have right here on earth - alien-like creatures. I enjoyed reading about space-travel possibilities, about weird planets, and weird possible alien life-forms.
All in all, this book is about using science and imagination to think about how possible aliens would be like.

This is not a book for UFO fanatics in no way. It's rather a scientific book about the possibilities.
When, again, the single most important thing I learned from it is about the BILLIONS of species we have right here on earth that are VERY alien.

The book is interesting most of the time, only a few boring sections; And it would have been much more enjoyable if the many sketches/drawings would have been better.

All in all, I can recommend it for those who like to speculate, learn and think..